This invention pertains to winding apparatus for the manufacture of filament-wound, reinforced resinous products.
In the manufacture of products such as pipes, cases, reaction vessels, cones and bottles it is conventional practice to impregnate glass or other filaments with a settable resin and to wind them on a mandrel to build up the desired shape in the desired thickness. Upon curing of the resin, the shape is removed from the mandrel and applied to its intended use.
The effectuation of this procedure is accompanied by serious problems not the least of which is plugging of the apparatus by the fiberglass rovings or other filamentous material employed, the difficulty of adapting the apparatus to the fabrication of shapes of diverse size and contour, and the necessity of operating with resinous products which set very rapidly, e.g. with catalyzed epoxy resins which in a time periof of less than half an hour cure to hard glassy solids which are difficult to remove from containers in which they are contained and surfaces upon which they are coated.
Accordingly, it is the general object of the present invention to provide apparatus for the indicated purpose which is quick and easy to disassemble and clean; which can be employed to build a wide variety of shapes, sizes and contours, including cylindrical, conical and square shapes, both large and small; which is quick and easy to convert to the manufacture of various products; which can be operated by but a single operator; which can be adjusted easily to lay selected filament winding patterns; which is self-lubricating in operation; which may be used with a variety of filaments and resins; which lays the filaments uniformly to provide a product of uniform strength; and which is simple in construction, comparatively low in cost, slow running, and easily maintained.
The foregoing and other objects of my invention are accomplished by means of winding apparatus which, broadly considered, comprises a mandrel, mandrel mounting means rotatably mounting the mandrel, and, positioned parallel to the mandrel a spaced distance therefrom, a track supporting a reciprocating carriage. Drive means, and variable speed coupling means couple the drive to the mandrel for rotating the same at a selected rotational speed, and to the carriage for reciprocating it at a selected velocity.
A vat is mounted on this carriage. It is adapted to contain a quantity of epoxy or other liquid, settable resin.
In easily demountable operating sequence, there are positioned within the vat an upstream filament guide for guiding a plurality of filaments in separated, parallel relation to the vat; a resin applicator roll rotatably mounted in the vat downstream from the upstream filament guide with at least its lower portion submerged in the resin; a combination hold-down and guide assembly positioned above the roll for holding down the roll and for pressing the filaments in frictional engagement with the upper surface of the roll; a squeegee postioned downstream from the roll for wiping excess resin from the filaments; a downstream filament guide for maintaining the filaments in separated, parallel relation as they traverse the vat; and a terminal clustering guide for clustering the filaments as they leave the vat.
At the beginning of the operation the ends of the filaments are tied to the mandrel. Rotation of the mandrel thereupon pulls the filaments from the spools on which they are contained, through the vat, and onto the mandrel in a pattern determined by the rotational speed of the mandrel and the reciprocating speed of the carriage.